


Sins of the fathers

by FrustratedPoet1979



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, Male-Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28478862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrustratedPoet1979/pseuds/FrustratedPoet1979
Summary: This is my story of Teddy's time at Hogwarts, with some Auror Harry Potter stuff thrown in too. His friendship with a mysterious girl he meets on the train, and just some of my own personal headcannons about the world post-war.
Relationships: Angelina Johnson/George Weasley, Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, Audrey Weasley/Percy Weasley, Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Teddy Lupin/Victoire Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	1. Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> I have tried to keep as true to the Potter universe as possible, if you spot any errors please point them out. As far as I have been able to gather ages and ships are cannon. All of the other students’ names are my invention. 
> 
> This story has been sitting in my google docs for so long I had almost forgotten about it, but I do really like a lot of the ideas I had in it so I hope you enjoy it.

**Sins of the fathers**

  
  
  


**Chapter one Hogwarts**

Teddy stood on platform 9¾ with his gran looking around anxiously. He could see families saying their goodbyes all around him and getting on the train already. He looked up at the clock and resisted the urge to bounce on the balls of his feet. A few of the people gave him a passing glance and he wondered once again if perhaps he should change his hair to blend in more, but the aqua blue was his colour, what it stuck to more than anything else, almost like his default setting, and his godfather always said to be himself and not be afraid to show it. Sensing his worry Grandma chose that moment to give him her most enormous goodbye hug, he forgot his anxiety for a moment and hugged her back just as fiercely. 

“Thanks, Gran”, he spoke into her hair. I’ll write to you, tell you everything.” He managed to smile up at her, feeling the warmth seep into him, as they separated he noticed a familiar figure striding towards them through the steam looking a little flustered and scanning the crowd as he moved. Teddy stopped himself from shouting a greeting as he knew his godfather did not like drawing attention to himself. Even without any added attention, eyes followed him as he passed and a few did double takes, one excited little girl squealed “it’s him, it’s him.” Before she was shushed by her embarrassed mother. Instead, Ted just ran up and threw his arms around him. The impact made Harry stagger slightly but he threw his arms around his godson in as big a hug as he had ever received from him. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it for a minute,” Teddy said, finally pulling away and looking up to the smiling face. 

“As if I would miss this,” he responded, giving a warm greeting to Andromeda. “We best get you on the train, it's about to go.” Teddy picked up one end of the trunk and Harry the other and together they hoisted it onto the train. “Now remember if you need me for anything just send an owl, sorry Ginny couldn’t be here. Can’t seem to go anywhere at the minute with the kids.” He gave an apologetic smile. Teddy had spent enough time with the three Potter children to know what kind of trouble they could be. Teddy stepped up onto the train and turned as Harry pushed the door closed behind him. “We will all see you at Christmas ok, it’s already been sorted. Go make some friends, good luck son.” His godfather looked like he wanted to say more but then the whistle blew and the train started to move he was forced to take a step back. Teddy watched the silhouette of the man he considered the closest to a father vanish into the mist. With nothing else to do he turned and started looking for a place to sit.

The train was happy and noisy, every carriage he passed seemed to be full of bigger boys and girls laughing and joking discussing what they had got up to in the holidays. Teddy was not used to feeling small, as the oldest of all the children who regularly attended the family dinners at the burrow or uncle Harry’s house he was usually the one in charge, him or Victoire. He was beginning to feel a little bit alone, an unusual feeling for him. At least when next time he saw his cousins he could tell them all about Hogwarts and they would hang on his words even more. He spotted a carriage that only had one person in it, she wasn’t looking at him, her attention was wholly on the grey buildings sliding past the window. She looked to be about the same age as him with dark auburn hair that hung down her back in relaxed spirals, the front of her hair was tied back with a dark clip, at first he thought she had weaved golden threads in her hair for decoration then realized it was her actual hair, the contrast was striking. She looked very sad sitting there all alone. As he opened the door her attention turned to him and she smiled shyly, her hazel eyes looking at him for a moment then turning back to the window. He checked his reflection in the window making sure that his hair had not copied hers as it sometimes did when he met someone new. She was already wearing her robes, but in sharp contrast, she was wearing a very brightly colored but very battered pair of canvas pumps that he noticed one of the laces had a knot in it like it had been tied back together. 

“Hi.” He said to her confidently. “I’m Teddy. Teddy Lupin. Nice to meet you.” He sat on the seat opposite her and waited for her to respond. 

“Camilla” she replied looking at him again. “Camilla Winters.” Her eyes wandered up to his hair. “I don’t think the school will be happy you colored your hair. At my last school, a girl was sent home when she turned up at assembly with green hair. She said she did it for charity but still got sent home. Are you doing it for charity?” He stared at her a little confused for a moment then realized something with a smile. 

“Your parents must be muggles then if you went to school. My hair is not coloured. I'm a metamorphmagus.” And to demonstrate he concentrated on his hair for a moment and he heard her gasp in surprise when he opened his eyes she was smiling in wonder. He checked his reflection in the glass again and his hair was now acid green, deciding he didn’t like the shade he concentrated again and it went back to his favorite aqua blue. When he looked at her again she was sliding the toe of her shoe against the floor looking sheepish. 

“I don’t know what muggle means, but I also couldn’t tell you _ what _ my parents are, were, or not, as  _ I’ve _ never met them.” She said in a very small voice. “I’ve lived as long as I can remember in a children’s home. I was fostered when I was ten to a nice couple, that’s who brought me to Kings Cross Station, but because of my magic, I’m not allowed to live there anymore. I don’t have any family. Now that I’m off to school they will have someone new living with them.” She seemed a little surprised she had revealed so much to him. Without thinking he moved to sit beside her and spoke gently.

“My parents died when I was a baby. I’ve never really met them either. They died at the Battle of Hogwarts. Do you know about the war?” She shook her head slowly, her eyes were very big. He noticed now there looked like flecks of gold in with the brown, she looked a little frightened and gasped when he had mentioned a battle.

“There was a battle at this school where we are going and people died?” She didn’t look very happy about that. “Is it safe?” He tried to reassure her quickly.

“I don’t know the whole story, my uncle Harry does, he’s my godfather, but he doesn’t talk about it. It’s been safe for years now. He’s kind of a big deal in the Wizarding world, but he’s been the closest thing to a dad I’ve had and he’s really great and he told me he will tell me one day. When I ask him about it all it makes him sad.” He stopped rambling “sorry I talk a lot. Harry and Ginny, that’s his wife, have three kids of their own and Ginny has five brothers and four of them have kids so it can get a bit hectic when we are all together. They are all younger than me tho so I’m the first to go to Hogwarts.” 

Do you live with your godfather then?” He shook his head, 

“Nah I’ve got my Grandma Andromeda, my mum's mum, she’s great too, most of the time.” He chuckled. “Sorry, I’m chatting away again.” His words trailed off and it was his turn to look down at his feet. She put out her hand for him to shake.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” He took her offered hand and shook it in the serious fashion that only two eleven-year-olds could muster, then giggled. “I don’t know anything about this world. What a muggle is. Didn’t even know I had magic until my letter came through the post. Can you teach me? I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” They talked and talked all the way. Camilla grew more confident as the journey went on. She started giggling hysterically when he told her what he knew about the muggle world. Teddy thought her laugh was great and soon joined her even though he had been slightly offended at first, he had always thought he knew lots about the muggle world as Uncle Ron told him. A thought occurred to him as he glanced up at her trunk. 

“How did you get all your school things? Did your forrester? Family take you?” As soon as he asked he wasn’t sure if he should have, as she went very quiet again, realizing how shabby her shoes looked he started to feel embarrassed and started to apologize. 

“You are very kind Teddy. A professor from the school came to visit me at the house, Professor Tawney. When my foster mum said she had been saving to buy me things for high school and handed me what she had. The professor took me to the funny street in London and I bought my things there, I couldn’t get brand new things, the professor said there are funds the school provides to orphans like me who have no living relatives and no inheritance. Although she insisted I buy a new wand, she said it was important.” Teddy suddenly felt very privileged that she had told him, and very lucky indeed to still have his grandma. 

“It  _ is _ very important.” He agreed. “Harry says the wand chooses you and if it doesn’t trust you it doesn’t work as well.” She seemed fascinated by these facts. They talked some more, Teddy wanted to know about her foster home but didn’t push when she got a bit sad. He told her all about his cousins and the funny things that can happen when magical children get together. 

When the train finally pulled in at a very small very dark platform they were both a little nervous. Teddy had changed into his robes and waited at the door behind a very tall student wearing a bronze and blue scarf around their neck. He took a moment to stop himself from wanting to be taller as he wasn’t sure what his metamorph abilities would think about that and he very much didn’t want to bring attention to himself any more than having bright blue hair already did. Camilla stood beside him looking very pale. She glanced at him and giggled again, before he could ask her what was funny they were caught up in the crowd of students all getting onto the platform. He was about to ask where they had to go when he heard a booming voice shouting “Firs’-years, firs’-years over here.” They approached the towering figure of Hagrid who was scanning the straggling students for any more first years when his gaze fell on them. “Hello there Teddy, almost didn’t recognize you.” He smiled kindly ruffling his hair, trying not to be too obvious he glanced at his reflection in one of the trains now dark windows, his hair was blonde and longer than he normally had it, not unlike the hair of the tall student. he shook his head and his hair shot back to its normal length but he decided he liked the blonde for now so left it. He glanced back at Camilla who was watching him with a little smile he shrugged and smiled back and she just rolled her eyes at him. He had a sudden hope she would be in the same house as him, they hadn’t even discussed on the journey the different houses. He knew his dad had been Gryffindor, and his mum had been Hufflepuff. Grandma had been Slytherin, but she had confided in him she had always thought of herself more as a Ravenclaw. Teddy was definitely not Ravenclaw material. He smiled at Camilla in what he hoped was a confident way, the golden strands in her hair almost seemed to shine with a light of their own.

The journey across the lake was uneventful, it was a very still night and the first view of Hogwarts was as amazing as he had dreamed it would be. Teddy was the first out of their little boat and he immediately turned and helped the other three, before joining the other nervous faces. Hagrid led them up to a massive door that he knocked on, it made an impressive booming sound as his fist slammed against the oak. They opened apparently all by themselves and a portly gentleman in long flowing midnight blue robes walked out. 

“Here are the first years professor Mcallister, all accounted for,” Hagrid said with a sweeping gesture to the group of wide-eyed students. 

“Thank you, Professor Hagrid, you can leave them with me.” He scanned the group in front of him with a beaming smile on his face that made his eyes nearly disappear, Teddy thought he must be smiling as it was difficult to see under his enormous mustache. “If you will all kindly follow me.” he led them through a vast hallway that was so dimly lit he couldn’t see the other end, another set of double doors stood closed across from them only visible due to the halo of light surrounding it and the gentle murmur of voices, but it was to another door the professor led them a much smaller door he ushered them in gently and walked in himself. “Good good. Everyone, pay attention if you please. Good evening I am professor Mcallister, and I teach charms. The start of the school banquet will begin very shortly, but before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. Your house is  _ very _ important as you can understand, for while you are here within these great walls your house becomes like a family to you. You will take classes with your house, live in your house dorms and study and relax in your house common room. The four houses are, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, And Slytherin. All equally proud and noble histories I assure you. When you triumph you will earn points for your house, do badly, and break school rules you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup! No doubt each and every one of you will be a fine asset to their new house!” The professor beamed at them, Teddy had the impression he smiled a great deal. “I must leave for a moment to make sure all is ready. I will return presently.” A soft murmur of worried whispers crept up as he left them, some faces looked frightened.

“How do they sort us?” Camilla asked timidly, “I don’t know anything yet.” Teddy shrugged in response; he knew it wasn’t bad, he was sure if it was a test Harry would have prepared him unless it was some kind of secret. It wasn’t long before the professor came back and arranged them in two lines before leading them back into the entrance and towards the hall where the rest of the school was waiting.

Camilla wasn’t quite sure where to look first as she entered the great hall. She gaped at the candles hanging in mid-air, at the roof that was - gone! She made her way silently while all the eyes of the entire school seemed to be watching her, well not just her of course but it did make her feel very self-conscious. The teachers’ table was raised a little higher than the other four and in front of that was a stool with a very grubby looking pointy hat, it looked very old and a bit scorched, she thought it was an odd thing to have in such an honoured position. She almost gave out a little squeak as a rip near the brim started to speak. 

_ Please do not judge This humble hat _

_ By its worn-out shabby cover _

_ For in each stitch holds a magic _

_ As bright as any other _

_ The founders four bestowed on me _

_ A great and wondrous gift _

_ To look inside these great young minds _

_ And sort with a short shrift _

_ Brave Gryffindor  _

_ Smart Ravenclaw  _

_ Ambitious Slytherin  _

_ Hard work is all that _

_ Hufflepuff requires to let you in _

_ And once again it’s down to me _

_ To be honest, fair, and true _

_ And put you in your place  _

_ With friends who’re just like you! _

The whole school applauded politely as the song finished, She liked the song and it had put her at her ease a bit, apart from wondering what qualities she had. Now it was professor Mcallister’s turn to speak. “When I call out your name come forward and sit on the stool. The hat will be placed on your head and will decide which house you belong to.” He now had a scroll of parchment glancing at it he read the first name. “Alan Brown.” She watched as the young boy walked up to the front and sat on the stool. The hat nearly went down past his nose, it didn’t take long before the hat shouted. 

Ravenclaw!

A great cheer followed the announcement from the table to her right, he almost sprinted to sit down. Fellow first-years took their turn one by one, each time a curious expression came upon their face, glancing around the room she tried to see if any house looked friendlier to her, wondering where she would be put. At the far side, the Slytherin table looked a little snooty to her but they welcomed any new member of the house as warmly as any other. The Gryffindor table appeared to be the rowdiest, banging on the table and stomping their feet whenever a student went to them, the Ravenclaw table clapped and cheered, so did the Hufflepuff, it was a curious thing to wonder where the future of her school life would be. “Edward Lupin” for a moment she did not realise that was her new friend's full name. He winked at her as he strode up to the hat looking extremely confident. He did not look so surprised when the hat went on his head, just almost like he had been let in on a private joke. 

Hufflepuff!

Enormous cheers came out from the table beside her, much more than any table had for any other, almost like they had won a prize. Teddy’s hair took on a bit of a reddish tint and his cheeks were flushed as he ran to be greeted by his new house. Bethany McKenzie who followed Teddy almost couldn’t hear her name; they were still cheering. 

Gryffindor! 

She was still wondering why he was so popular minutes later when her name was finally called. It was only then she noticed she was the last one, standing all by herself. As she walked to the front she saw a lot of the older children were no longer paying much attention and a low hum of chatter was in the background, she was perfectly happy with this, less attention on her the better. She sat down and the hat went down over her eyes. She gave a start as the voice of the hat spoke inside her head

Well well, what have we here a fine mind that doesn’t know what she wants, curious. Fairly smart, fairly brave, not shy of working hard. That is good, but where to put you?

As she looked out to all the other faces, while the hat considered its options, one stood out to her. Teddy was biting his bottom lip looking at her then looking down, trying not to look like it mattered but she knew it did.

You are a loyal friend and determined to do your best, for that you must be….

Hufflepuff!

Teddy gave her a hug when she got to the table. She beamed as so many people patted her on the back or offered her a hand to shake. Every face was smiling at her, welcoming her into their family, was this what it was like to belong?

“Before we begin there are a few points to note.” The silver-haired headmaster was so short he was standing on a pile of books so he could be seen. His slightly squeaky voice still carried clearly over the hall. “The forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Mr filch informs me that there is a list of all the banned products outside his office and any student found with any Weasley products will receive detention without question. I can see you are all hungry so Let the feast begin!” He Exclaimed. She turned to ask if you collected your food from somewhere when the food was already there. 

“Wow, this is so cool!” She said gazing at all the different dishes that had just arrived. Teddy was already filling his plate from a large pot of stew.

“This smells just like Kreacher’s chicken stew did.” He told her happily “even has the little dumplings. I suppose he must have taught it to the other house-elves here.” She couldn’t help herself but had to ask. 

“House-elves?”

“They are another magical race, like the goblins in Gringotts, centaurs, some of whom live in the Forest here. Harry’s house Elf used to work here. There are loads of house-elves here, they do the cooking and cleaning.” He said it like it was something everybody knew and the examples were not things made up for books. “Kreacher was very old even when I was a baby, he retired to someplace they have for elderly elves. I still remember his cooking from when I was little and Harry would look after me.” The more Teddy was trying to explain to her the less she seemed to understand, an older girl who was sitting opposite her smiled at her confused face.

“Don’t worry.” She said warmly. “I’m muggle-born too.” She took out a book from a pocket of her robes. “I’ve been waiting to pass this on to another for three years, it really helped me my first year, it explains a lot.” She slid the small book across the table to her. “You better put something on your plate quickly before all the best stuff gets eaten.” She added with a wink before joining back into her friends’ conversation. Camilla looked at the title of the book  _ welcome to the world of witchcraft and wizardry by Hermione Granger-Weasley _ . She looked back at Teddy who seemed to be in great joy eating his stew. She decided to join him in his meal choice and was very glad she did. He looked at the book that was now sitting on the table between them and exclaimed when he read the title. 

“I didn’t know she wrote another book!” He continued to eat but at least did swallow before explaining a bit more “one of my godfathers best friends, she’s muggle-born too. She’s really smart, done loads of stuff in the ministry to help make things better for everyone.” She wanted to ask him why he had got such a big cheer but wasn’t sure how to. He had such an easy confident manner, nothing seemed to phase him at all, why on earth would he want to be friends with her when she knew nothing at all? Then she considered what it would be like to have that kind of scrutiny not for something you did but for who you knew. She wondered if he would have been so casual and relaxed on the train if there had been someone in that carriage who knew exactly what kind of heritage this boy had. As if this thought had materialised into a person someone sat on the other side of him. He was wearing Gryffindor colours and sat without asking for permission. The kind girl who had given her the book suddenly sat very still and watched this intruder. 

“Hi, Ted.” He started like they were already friends, Teddy stiffened slightly beside her but tried to carry on eating. He nodded a silent acknowledgment in response. “I’m Victor. I was wondering if you could pass this on to Harry Potter next time you see him? When do you think that will be?” As he spoke he reached into his robes and three Hufflepuffs stood around him as if they had just come out of thin air. The girl across the table from them had also stood with her friend and they had hands inside their robes. “It’s just a letter.” the boy said very defensively standing up, “we’re all good, aren’t we? I’m a Gryffindor after all.”

“And what in the name of Dumbledore’s sodding army has that got to do with anything?” One of the boys standing next to Victor said in a very deliberately calm voice. The commotion had been noticed by the teaching table and professor Mcallister had stood from his chair along with a younger looking professor with dark brown hair and a thin scar on his kind face. “If you want to send a letter I suggest you do it in the usual fashion and leave our first year to eat his dinner in peace” there had been a slight emphasis on  _ our _ that hadn’t gone unnoticed. Knowing he was not welcome Victor took his hand away from his pocket without the letter and went back to his table. Teddy’s hair had gone through a few colours as he had tried to figure out how to respond. Camilla was pretty sure it partly reflected his mood, and she wondered if she would get to know him well enough to know what it meant when his hair went muddy puddle brown. The boys who had effectively been his bouncers drifted back to wherever they were before. Teddy mumbled thanks to them and he received a few shoulder squeezes and back slaps in return. 

“I’m Penny by the way.” The girl who had given her the muggle book said as she sat back down. “Don’t worry about a thing Ted. Your mum was one of us. I know your dad was Gryffindor but we won’t hold that against him.” There was a twinkle in her eyes when she winked with the joke “if anyone else starts harassing you let us know.”

“Thanks,” he said back weakly, “but I can handle it.” He rubbed his fingers through his hair, it was back to blonde again, and looked sideways at her and shrugged. “I wish they  _ had _ let me handle it,” he said quietly enough so only she could hear.

“Will you tell your godfather? You think he would want to know?” He surprised her by chuckling at that.

“He would want to know, he would want to swoop in and fix everything for me, but I’ve got to learn to live outside the family shadow.” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Figure out if I’m good enough, so, no I’m not going to tell him, not until I can tell him he doesn’t have to help.” His mood brightened again. “I will tell him about my great new best friend though” she blushed and smiled slightly. Communal living with her peers was nothing new to her but somehow she could never gel with the others at the home, it made sense to her now she knew she was different from them. This boy who she only met that day was already calling her his best friend. 


	2. Portraits and Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this about a week earlier than planned but it's only a short chapter, so I might not wait so long until the next part.

  


**Chapter Two. Portraits and Memories**

  


The rest of the feast went by without any more incident, after the last dregs of pudding had been cleared the headmaster Flitwick spoke again, but Camilla’s head was already fuzzy, she tried to concentrate as the teachers were introduced but hoped she could rely on her friend for help. Next thing she knew a prefect was telling her to follow with the other first-years to their dorm. It wasn’t a long walk back into the entranceway and down some stairs, she noticed the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw first years going up, and the Slytherins continuing down the stairs further. She thought she might struggle to get her pyjamas on before she crashed out she felt so tired. Something up ahead made them all stop, she vaguely heard something about one of the ghosts causing problems, she let her mind wander.

Psst 

She looked around wondering where the noise had come from, suddenly wary.

Psst

Again and this time more insistent. She turned her head and couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. She went to nudge Teddy to ask if he could see it too but somehow he was further up the line than her. the girl stood beside her, she thought she had introduced herself as Lexi, turned at her nudge. “Can you see that picture moving?” She asked. The girl just rolled her eyes and giggled in a way that made her feel a bit stupid.

The person in the picture was waving at her directly gesturing for her to come closer. 

“Er, hi.” She replied wondering if this was some kind of prank. The girl in the picture looked very out of place in it. She had pink hair for one thing, and she reminded her of someone, the picture scene was of a stone bridge with a water mill and she was standing in front, visible from the waist up. It was almost like when tv presenters stood in front of green screens to pretend they were somewhere else. “Nice to meet you.”

“You’re Teddy’s friend right?” She slowly nodded, the picture beckoned her to come even closer, as she did the picture looked around as if she didn’t want to be overheard. “I promised the teachers I wouldn’t distract him from his studies, I can’t let him see me.” It was almost funny to see a picture apparently wrestling with inner thoughts. “Can you tell him I said hi? And I hope to speak soon.” Suddenly it dawned on her who she was reminded of.

“I’ll tell him, Mrs. Lupin.” She said quietly hoping she sounded a bit more sure of herself than she felt. The witch in the picture smiled at her almost sadly then walked to the side of the picture and vanished. The group started to move on again. They walked past a still life of an enormous bowl of fruit, Camilla could hear the faint sounds of metal clanking metal and dishes being stacked. They were led further on when the corridor ended and all that she could see was a large stack of barrels piled rather precariously inside a stone alcove. The prefect arranged them in a semicircle around the alcove so they all had a clear view. The prefect turned to point to a barrel two from the bottom, in the middle of the second row. “Remember the rhythm, you mustn’t get it wrong.” Then he tapped on the barrel saying in the rhythm, “Hel-ga Huff-le-puff” The front of the barrel opened like a door to reveal an upwards sloping passage. “In we go then.” He said brightly gesturing to them to follow him. She noticed as they did so that the prefect had to stoop slightly as they walked up but they soon came to a large and cosy looking circular room. The low ceiling looked like earth, the whole place looked like it had been dug out of the ground, the windows that were placed just below the ceiling were round, even the fireplace was round. It was full of large squashy yellow sofas and armchairs, more pictures were on the walls, she tried not to notice them moving. The floor was covered in a jumble of rugs. It slightly reminded her of someplace that would be found in the book the wind in the willows. Two more barrel-shaped doors stood to each side of the corridor she had just entered through. “Girls dorms are through that door there.” He pointed to one of the barrels. “Boys through this one with me.” And promptly disappeared through it. She spotted Teddy and he waved as if to say goodbye. She beckoned him over quickly before he went with the other boys. He followed her over a curious look on his face.

“A picture talked to me when we were stopped at the hall.” She said before he could say anything. He shrugged at her and smiled thinking he had to reassure her. 

“You’ll get used to it, it’s a lot to take in I understand. Meet you here in the morning to go to breakfast?” He went to go but she stopped him again.

“Teddy, I think it was a picture of your mum, she told me she hopes to speak to you soon.” She watched his reaction change from slight confusion to shock, then a guarded look came over his face, his eyes looked a bit shiny when he spoke. 

“She. Told you that? Er...ok I guess.” She was at a complete loss as to what to do now. Without really thinking about it she gave him a big hug. He patted her absently on the back a few times “Well I guess I better go find my dorm. See ya tomorrow.” He waved as he moved away from her not thinking about her or anything else. She watched until he disappeared through the boys’ door then went to find her own. 

Lexie was waiting for her outside the room to their dorm. She noted the brass plaque on the door that said in flowing script,  _ first years _ . Inside were three large and comfy looking wooden beds spaced out around the circular room. They looked to be made out of the same honey-colored wood as the wardrobes and dressers. The beds were covered with wonderfully colourful patchwork quilts, she sighed deeply in happiness just wanting to lie flat out on her bed. The other first-year Hufflepuff introduced herself as Abigail Jones and she discovered the full name of Lexie was Alexandria McKinnon, but she made a face after she said it like she didn’t like it. Lexie also apologised for not being more sympathetic when Camilla had asked her about the painting. Both girls had been raised in fully magical houses so they were fascinated when she pulled her radio alarm clock out of her trunk.

“Ooh does that use eklectricity?” Abigail asked. “My dad told me muggle things don’t really work when there is too much magic.” Camilla looked down at the small silver plastic box in her hand, the plug still dangling. She had wondered why she hadn’t seen a plug socket in the room and all the lights for that matter. She decided she would read welcome to the world of witchcraft and wizardry as soon as possible, but not tonight. After a small exploration of their dorm to find the bathroom and brush their teeth all three of them made their way back to their own room. They heard giggling and chatting from some of the doors they walked past, it all seemed quite subdued. Feeling very sleepy again she fished her pyjamas out of the bottom of her trunk, changed, and climbed into the amazingly squashy bed that seemed to hug her as she lay down into it, she immediately fell asleep. 

  


The next morning she found Teddy waiting for her in the common room as promised. He wasn’t looking in her direction as she walked in with the other girls, but staring off apparently deep in some faraway thought, he didn’t look very well rested either, his hair was back to the aqua blue of when they first met, but he still brightened when he saw her and smiled as Lexie and Abigail introduced themselves before they all left together.

“You ok?” She asked her friend gently. He nodded as he responded, sinking his hands into the pockets of his robes and smiling weakly.

“Yeah, yeah, just thinking about mum you know.” She did know. She tried to see how she would feel if a picture of her mother started sending messages to her. Of course one of the pictures here could be of her mother or father but she wouldn’t know unless they told her. She tried not to think too much about that, suppressing the faint glimmer of hope that she might find out who they are or were one day. “It would have been nice if she’d spoken to me too.” He added a little sulkily as they passed the familiar clanking sounds coming from what must be the kitchens as the smells coming from behind the picture were making her mouth water. She desperately wanted to lift his sulky mood. 

“She said she had promised the teachers not to distract you from your studies. It’s our first day, things are going to be hard enough you can understand that right?” They now stood in the entrance hall, the big front doors stood wide open and sunlight was streaming into the large space. It didn’t look anywhere near as creepy as it had done last night, she noticed all the portraits hanging all over the walls and all the way up the staircases. So many pictures moving and waving and they seemed to be able to go from one to another without trouble. Teddy’s mum had not been in the same picture when they walked past this morning, although she had pointed out to him which one it was, and he had not been surprised she wasn’t there. Teddy stopped and started scanning all the pictures. 

“Come on, just let me see you.” He pleaded in a near whisper. Camilla watched her friend in silent anguish, knowing she should pull him away into the hall for breakfast, but not really wanting to. Professor Mcallister walked out of the hall just at the time she had decided to take Teddy’s arm. His bright smile faded to a concerned look when he saw the pair of them. 

“Come along you two.” He said brightly and loudly. Teddy jumped in apparent surprise as his focus had been so intense. “Breakfast will not wait for you, and hungry minds need feeding before they can be filled with knowledge. Plenty of time for sightseeing after the work is done.” His presence had immediately put Camilla at ease. They had learned last night he was the charms teacher and also head of their house, he didn’t seem at all surprised to find them standing there. He guided them gently into the hall where the majority of students looked to be nearly finished. “I would eat quickly, my dears. You have Herbology first thing and professor Longbottom does not tolerate tardy students, even if it is their first day” he chuckled as if he had made a fine joke, as he handed them their timetables. He watched as they took their seats at the Hufflepuff table then strode back out, his jolly smile back in place. 

  


They made it to greenhouse one just in time as professor Longbottom opened the door. As the crowd entered she noticed that the Gryffindor first years were also here. 

“Four to a workbench, please. Two Hufflepuff, two Gryffindor. We may be in separate houses but we should know all of our fellow students.” His tone was strong but not unkind; he had a very businesslike manner to him like this was nothing new. Camilla moved to a bench near the back with Teddy, they were shortly followed by two Gryffindor girls who introduced themselves as Hope Frost and Amelia Spinnet. The benches were arranged one in front of the other and were quite long so they could all stand side by side and watch the front. Four troughs of dark earth were spaced along the table with some curious-looking tools and a small Wooden box, all four of them took their places, Camilla, between Teddy and Hope and watched the Professor who was looking out over them from his own slightly raised workbench. Once everyone was in place and waiting expectantly he opened his mouth to speak but before he could start he noticed a hand in the air. He didn’t look surprised by this, in fact, he almost looked amused. “Yes, Mr Stuart. Is there something you need to ask me?” The boy reddened slightly now that the whole class was watching him expectantly along with the penetrating gaze of the professor.

“Did you really fight at the Battle of Hogwarts, and kill a giant snake with the sword of Gryffindor?” She could not see many of the other faces in the room but the murmur that sprouted up after seemed like he had been chosen to ask the question and all the Gryffindors wanted to know. Professor Longbottom raised his hand and everyone became silent and expectant. 

“Yes I did, but.” He added as about six other hands shot up into the air. “The battle of Hogwarts and the first and second Wizarding wars will be covered in your modern history lessons with professor Jones.” Murmurs started and he raised his voice as he continued “I will answer questions relating to the events of that time if they are concerning any  _ homework _ given out by Professor Jones. And please be aware that she does inform me beforehand if I am likely to receive any such questions.” He clapped his hands in finality ending any further discussion. He continued on as if the interruption had never occurred “Welcome to Herbology. My name is Professor Longbottom.” 

Camila had to concentrate quite hard during the lesson, the seeds they were trying to plant that were inside the box were very wriggly, and kept trying to avoid being picked up by her tweezers, but it was also quite fun. She turned her head to share her happy feeling with her friend but saw him instead of staring out the greenhouse back to the castle. 

  


As the weeks progressed Camilla got more and more concerned about her friend. He never missed any lessons and looked to be putting as much effort in as her. But the sparkle that had been there as they chatted on the train was missing. Every mealtime he would gulp down his food then run off not even telling her where he was going. She started thinking he was turning into a pretty crummy friend. One such dinner she was watching him run back to the entrance when a voice brought her back to herself. “Looking a little down in the dumps there firstie.” She looked up to see Penny, the fourth year girl from the welcoming banquet sit down beside her. “Are you missing home?” She shook her head not sure if she should say anything and tried to look more cheerful.

“I don’t have a home. I was brought up in care.” Penny seemed slightly taken aback by this but continued to chat along beside her in an apparent attempt to cheer her up. From what she was talking about she must have thought her sadness was due to poor knowledge of the way the wizarding world worked. Camilla was a lot more aware than she once was, the little book Penny had given her has been extremely helpful. She tried to listen to Penny as she finished her dinner when something she said caught her attention. 

“You said the owl just knew where to go, even without a proper address?” Penny nodded

“Oh yes. My dad’s a postman so gets a bit disgruntled when I talk to him about owls doing what he does even better than him. Even when on holiday wizards get their post. Isn’t that amazing? I doubt any old wild owl could do it though unless there is a spell I suppose.” Penny seemed very pleased that she had finally sparked some interest in her. 

“So, if I wanted to send a letter by owl, and all I had was a name. How would I do it?”


	3. Dear Mr. Potter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry receives a letter from Teddy's schoolfriend.

  
  


Harry sat at the kitchen table of his home surrounded by his family. Lily was sitting in her high chair happily working on some buttered toast, Albus was stirring his porridge in imitation of his father who was doing the same without paying much attention to it. His focus was on a field-report that had been hand-delivered to his home early this morning. James kept taking sideways glances at his mother then looking down sheepishly spooning enormous mouthfuls into himself. Ginny was sitting between her two boys, this morning's daily profit in front of her, a slight thinning of her mouth whenever she glanced at her oldest son, the only indication she was still mad at him. If anyone had seen this family only ten minutes earlier it would have been a completely different scene. Sparing a thought for his wife he glanced at the ceiling and spotted a rather stubborn blob of porridge still stuck there. He casually took out his wand from his inside pocket and vanished the offending blob. Ginny pretended not to notice although she had looked at him as he’d taken his wand out. He rolled up the scroll and placed it with the others in the bag at his feet, then tried to enjoy his porridge. He was stopped from eating more than a few mouthfuls by the post bell ringing. 

They had been forced to install a drop-off point for owls due to the volume of mail they received, although they had few neighbours, it was always best to be cautious. It was kind of like a letterbox for owls on their roof, along with a small roost for owls to take a rest if they needed it. He gathered up the stack of letters from the collection point in their shared office and brought them back into the kitchen. He put them on the table and started sorting them into his and hers. “Oh look, daddy,” James exclaimed pointing to one of the letters. “That one has a sticker with a face on it, but it’s not moving.” He looked curiously at his parents. Harry leaned over and picked it up. The letter had a Muggle stamp in the corner and was addressed simply to Mr. Harry Potter in a very neat script. His curiosity peaked, he opened this one first. Ginny  _ tsked _ at him slightly for opening it without doing any safety checks first, but he knew that any jinxed letter would not get through the charms he had placed upon the owl shoot. When he finished reading it he handed it to her without speaking. 

  
  


_ Dear Mr. Harry Potter  _

_ I hope you and your family are well. My name is Camilla Winters and I met your godson, Teddy on the train to Hogwarts. He was very kind to me and we are friends now, but I’m very worried about him as he keeps searching the castle for a portrait of his mother. _

_ I feel terrible as it’s my fault this happened, I gave him a message from a portrait of a woman with pink hair that looked like him. She told me she had promised not to distract him from his lessons and that’s why she is hiding now I think. I wish I hadn’t told him the message as he has been so sad and distracted ever since. Please don’t let him know it was me that told you, when I suggested asking a teacher where her portrait was he got a little angry with me and told me to drop it.  _

_ I hope this gets to you. I’ve never used an owl before I added a stamp just in case. A fourth-year assured me all I needed was a name, but I didn’t tell her who I was sending it to. Teddy says you understand him because you lost your parents too. If you could let me know what I should do, I would be very grateful as I am worried the teachers are going to start noticing he’s not concentrating. _

_ Camilla _

  
  


“I thought it odd we hadn’t heard from him yet.” She mused, “just thought he was too busy having fun. This Camilla sounds like she has her head on right.” She looked at her husband knowing exactly what he was thinking about doing. “You can’t just go march up there and snap him out of it. Even if you could find an excuse to get into the school. You don’t even know what house he’s in love.” He turned to her as if to argue then thought better of it. 

“I wasn’t going to go to the school.” He lied, she gave him a disbelieving snort in response. “Ok maybe I thought about it but you're right it’s not the way to go.” He noticed two out of their three children were no longer interested in breakfast. Albus was sliding a finger through the dollops that had escaped his bowl, and James was screwing his eyes up tight like when Teddy changed his appearance, then looking at his reflection in his spoon. “I’ll speak to Neville, I would have thought he would already have this sorted. I spoke to him before term started thinking this might be a problem.”

“Neville can only do so much, especially if Teddy isn’t in his house. He has to let that teacher sort it out.” She lifted lily out of her high chair and placed her on the floor next to her building blocks. “I’m seeing Andromeda today. I'll ask if Teddy has mentioned this to her.” She cleared the table and cleaned it with a couple of swift flicks of her wand. Albus looked up slightly disappointed that his drawing material had vanished. “Mum’s coming to take the boys for the day, and Lily needs shoes now she’s walking.” She reminded him, he hadn’t forgotten, but she liked reminding him and he nodded and gave both the boys a kiss on the head and a murmur to behave as he walked back into their study, taking the pile of his letters with him. 

The room was spacious for a study, big enough to comfortably fit two desks and a studded leather sofa and still not feel cluttered. Apart from his desk, that always looked cluttered.

“Sirius.” He said to the portrait of his godfather that hung on the wall while placing Ginny’s post on her tidy desk. The image of Sirius used to make the picture had been taken the day of Harry’s parents wedding, before Azkaban had drained him of his vitality, handsome and often smiling with long black hair. He appeared to be at his ease, lounging in an armchair one leg hooked over the side, eyes half closed, but at the sound of his name he sat up straight and alert . “Can you go to Hogwarts and tell Professor Longbottom I would like to speak to him if he is free for lunch. I will most likely be at my work before you return. I will make sure I can speak to you there.” 

“My pleasure to help,” he said and walked to the edge of his frame and disappeared. The couple in the other picture just smiled serenely down at him while he rummaged around in his desk. Ginny walked in with Lily on her hip while he was still searching.

“That’s the boys at mums.” She glanced at the empty frame but said nothing about it. “Are you working from home today?” He shook his head, continuing to search. “If you organised, and took the files you no longer need back to work, you might have a better chance of finding things.” She said it in a very patient tone like she had said it many times before, she turned to their daughter who was trying to stuff her fist in her mouth. “Is daddy a messy boy!” She said in a silly voice smiling and making a face, Lily giggled, brown eyes sparkling. Harry made a noise at his wife but knew she was right, he needed to find time to clear out his desk. 

“If you are out as well today then I won’t be home for lunch. I will do my best to be home for dinner.” Finding what he was looking for he slipped it into his pocket, then came over and blew a few raspberries on his daughters neck and planted a few kisses on her cheek, she giggled even more slapping a hand against his cheek. He turned and gave his wife a kiss wrapping an arm around her briefly whispering “love you” into her neck, before grabbing his bag and walking to the door and apparating to work.

When Harry arrived at the atrium he kept his eyes forward deliberately not paying attention to anyone else who might try to catch his eye. He did it without even thinking about it anymore.

“Morning boss.” The young Auror who had been standing leaning against the memorial fountain looking completely at ease, joined in step with him as he made his way towards the lifts. The brisk pace did nothing to stop his swagger.

“Morning Caldwell.” He acknowledged his companion. Now that he was with company he started scanning the various wizards moving about the atrium. The busy morning rush had now passed and there were only a few stragglers like himself. Owen Caldwell might act like a bit of an arrogant sod but he was a very good guard dog, and a very good Auror, he had taken very well to the lesson that confidence breeds confidence. Harry was much less likely to be intercepted on his way into the office when he was seen talking to someone else. He used to take the time to speak to people when he came into work until he realised it was taking him longer and longer to actually get to his desk. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, the problem was that people would want him to deal with every issue the ministry dealt with, regardless of who they were supposed to report to. He had never asked them to do it but one morning he started being met by someone from headquarters in the atrium, and all of a sudden he got to his desk before noon. “Has anyone at Bodmin made it in for the scheduled update yet?” The easy smile on Owens’s face faulted for a moment as he replied.

“Not yet boss no, and it’s getting pretty close to the deadline. Maybe we should send someone to check?” He meant himself, rumours were he was getting quite close to one of the agents currently out on mission. Harry knew how reckless people could become when they are trying to save those they love. He was a prime example of that, he shook his head.

“The reason why we have 24 hours to check in is because, as you very well know, you can’t always just pop back here and say hi.” There were a few people standing waiting when they got to the lifts so they ended the conversation. He recognised one as his brother in law Percy who looked to be deep in discussions with a witch he didn’t know. They nodded to each other in greeting but Percy didn’t stop to talk to him or slow down his conversation. Harry tried not to listen, knowing Percy it would be about something very important to him, and incredibly dull to anyone else. When they stepped into the lift Harry noticed there were already a handful of memos flying in lazy circles above his head. One of them dropped down and started to gently bump him on the side of the head. Taking the memo he put it in his pocket without reading. He knew who it would be from, no one else’s memos came to him directly.

The Auror office was the usual bustling place, memos zoomed about like they were supercharged a few Aurors stood chatting over the top of their cubicles. Nobody took much notice of him walking in. He would say there were still a lot more of his staff who were older than him, but his youth had never been a problem, there were far fewer now that were more experienced than him. The problem had been filling the spaces left by the devastation after the war, not everyone was suited to being an Auror, even those that thought they wanted it didn’t always after a few harsh reality checks. And Harry refused to let anyone qualify that wasn’t up to standard, even before he was made head of the department, standards had been improved when he was placed in charge of selection and training. Finally the Auror office was back to the strength it had been before Voldermort’s resurrection, still not at full strength in his eyes but the foundations were strong.

“Get everyone who’s working on the Bodmin case in the conference room in fifteen minutes. I have to take care of a few things first. I'll meet you there.” Owen wandered off then with a loud “you got it boss” Harry, his mind already back on Teddy didn’t respond. When Harry entered his office he was pleased nobody was waiting for him, he took the small picture frame he had been searching for in his desk at home and placed it on his desk, along with the memo he had nearly forgotten about. Sighing, he opened it.

_ Harry _

_ Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you are avoiding me! I really need to speak to you about Kreacher. It's very important and I’m not going to take no or silence for an answer. If I have to I will bring it up out of work but neither of us want that as it’s a delicate matter. It’s nothing to worry about either. _

_ Hermione  _

He ran a hand through his hair and decided that although Hermione wasn’t a high priority he couldn’t keep putting her off, he had a rough idea what it was about. He was about to reply to her when Sirius’ face turned up in the frame. 

“Professor Longbottom says he will be at the three broomsticks for lunch today and he is going to bring Professor McAllister along too.”

“Did he say why he’s bringing him?” Harry didn’t really know the charms Professor, he had only met him the handful of times he and Ginny had gone to the annual memorial service. Then he answered his own question “He is head of Teddy’s house isn’t he?” Harry shook his head and knew he wasn’t going to get anymore from the painting. He looked back down at the memo from Hermione and decided now would be as good a time as any to go see his boss.

Her office wasn’t that far away from his. Magical law enforcement was a big department and they pretty much had this entire floor. He knew the Bodmin meeting would be waiting for him soon, but he also hoped that it would give him an excuse to get away from Hermione if he needed one. 

She was standing outside her office when he arrived talking with her assistant. He was pleased he wouldn’t have to argue about making appointments with the assistant once again. That reminded Harry he needed to do something about finding a temp replacement for his own assistant, who had gone on maternity.

Hermione smiled at him when she saw him approach. “Well I’m glad my last memo finally did the trick, come and take a seat.”

“Will this take long? Only I have a mission briefing starting in about…”

“It’s alright this won't take long your department can manage without you for a moment. She lifted a scroll from a pigeon hole behind her and handed it to him.

“What’s this?” he asked, feeling the weight of it.

“Read it and see”

“I’d rather you gave me the abbreviated highlights,” he complained, opening it and sitting down, the scroll unfurled and rolled along the ground stopping only when it bumped against Hermione’s desk.

“It’s Kreacher’s will.” She explained sitting down herself with another stack of papers.

“He made a will?” Harry was surprised, Kreacher hadn’t had a great deal of possessions; those he did had been mainly forced on him by Harry and the kids giving him presents every Christmas. He had received the letter about a month earlier telling him the ancient Elf had finally passed away peacefully. The truth was Harry had no idea how long Elves normally lived, he knew Dobby was still fit and well and living at Hogwarts, Harry made sure to send him socks every year. “Anything he left us can be sent to the house ill make arrangements from there,”

“It’s not as simple as that,” she went on quickly realising that he was about to leave. “Kreacher made some arrangements in his will for his Legacy care to be passed on.”

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes at her, “Meaning?”

“You are getting a new house elf.”

“What?”

“It will take some time. The elves themselves sort this kind of thing out. Kreacher was part of a quite expansive family line, but all are already with households as far as I’ve been informed.”

“I thought it was one of your missions to stop elf slavery, and them being treated like property.”

Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It is something I am still working on, and things have improved greatly, but the elves themselves are very proud of their service and you can’t change their minds over centuries of traditions overnight. Elves are in a better position than they were, they have recognised rights to fair treatment, holidays and living conditions, they are allowed to report their family of any wrongdoing within it without punishment. A basic right to me but scandalous to nearly all the elves i have spoken to about this. But anyway I digress. Expect yourself to have an elf living in your home very soon.

“I’m not sure how Ginny is going to take that.”

“Better you tell her quick before one turns up”

“Anything else?” He rolled up the scroll as he stood up to go.

“No, I think that’s everything. I'll see you at dinner on Sunday?”

“Barring a catastrophe, we’ll be there.”

*

Very little had changed in Hogsmeade over the years since Harry was at school. It had survived relatively unscathed from the devastation during the battle of Hogwarts. The small village was sunlight when Harry apparated at the small square with it’s equally discreet memorial stone. Harry paused a moment and refreshed the wreath of snow white Lilies that was laid against it.

It was not a long walk over to the three broomsticks but still Harry was greeted by a few people as he made his way along the cobbled street. None of them looked familiar to him so he didn’t stop, just nodded his head politely and moved on.

Harry spotted his old friend immediately as he entered the cosy pub. He was sitting at a table away from the bar with the enormous frame of Professor McCallister. They both stood to greet him as he approached. Neville and Harry shoulder bumped as they shook hands and slapped each other on the back in a very well practiced way. When Harry offered his hand to the other man it was enveloped by two large and surprisingly powerful hands. “Nice to see you again professor.” Harry greeted.

“Bartemius, please call me Bartemius.” They all sat down and Madame Rosemerta came over to take their food order bringing Harry a butterbeer without having to be told, she squeezed his shoulder as she left. “So I take it you are here to talk about Ted Lupin?” McCallister began without prompting. “I was hoping this would be sorted without you having to be told.”

“His friend wrote to me. Camilla?” McCallister smiled as Harry fished the letter from his pocket. 

“Ah yes she’s a bright young witch. So sad about her own past, I had a feeling they would be drawn to each other, especially as they have been sorted into the same house. I do wish she had come to me, but now I see the reason why she hasn’t.” Neville took the letter once McCallister had finished with it and scanned it quickly. “The portraits of Dora and Remus Lupin are in locations that Teddy doesn’t have access to. We were prepared to move Professor Lupin's portrait if he had been sorted into Gryffindor.” McCallister added in a tone that said he thought it was highly doubtful. “All the portraits of those who died in the war hold very little of the true selves, although I think some of the students have been teaching them their history. I am surprised to read that the portrait felt strongly enough to send him a message.”

“The photograph used by the artist was the one taken with Teddy in her arms, the maternal bond must have been transferred through.” Harry explained, he had become quite knowledgeable on this subject over the years. Neville leaned back in his chair taking a long dink from his cup.

“The students teach them all sorts of things.” He said with a slight smirk, then continued more seriously “It’s always a disappointment to find out it’s not truly them. Professor Lupin’s picture knows loads about defensive spells and the correct way to deal with various dangerous creatures, but ask him about his wedding, or his friendships in school and the answers dry up.”

“Probably for the best he doesn’t know much about the marauders, from what I’ve heard of them they were quite a handful” McCallister chuckled then seemed to realise who's company he was in, “No offence Harry.”

“None taken I assure you.” Harry knew all too well that disappointment. He had thought, like so many others did, that all portraits were as true a representation of their living selves as the old headmasters portraits were. It had only been when he had been fighting to get Severus Snape’s portrait hung as a rightful former headmaster, that he had found the truth, that it took years of the former headmasters teaching their hidden image everything they could, as Severus had only been headmaster a year he had not had the time to impart much of his knowledge. The more the artist drawing the picture knew of the model also helped. Harry squashed down his mild irritation at the memory.

“My godson is stubborn, and keeping him from these pictures is not going to make him any less determined.” He thought for a moment. “Could you move them to a place he does have access to, so he can speak with them privately?” He looked at their faces and they nodded. “I doubt it will take more than a couple of hours this weekend for him to realise that it’s not truly them, but if it does take him longer we can tell him he can only visit that room at the weekends, and keep it locked the rest of the time?” 

“That shouldn’t be too difficult to do. Dora's picture is currently in the staff room. Remus’ in the Gryffindor common room. Some students might comment on its removal but pictures wander all the time and we could just put a blank canvas. The last few years have had smaller intakes, this is the smallest group in my time at the school.”

“There will probably be an upswing next year,” Harry added with a smirk taking a swig of the beer he then asked. “So what have the students been teaching the pictures?”


	4. Visiting the Potters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camilla goes to the Potters' house for Christmas with Teddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight note: All my canon universe stories are connected, so the events that happened in where do we go from here? follow on to this story too.  
>  If you read this or are reading this please let me know what you think of it I love to hear back from you all. Come talk to me on tumblr or discord.

**Chapter** **Four. Visiting the Potters.**

Teddy stood outside the door to a classroom on the second floor nervously adjusting his clothes. Professor Mcallister patted him on the shoulder gently. When he looked up at him he was smiling sadly. “Please remember my boy what Professor Flitwick and myself explained to you. And I would also like to add that it is not always wise to want to live in the past. Your parents were amazing people, and I’m sure you will learn more about them from the people still living who knew them, rather than copies made by people who barely did.” The Professor looked to be trying very hard to impart this wisdom on him, but Teddy was only half listening. 

“I know, I understand.” He tried to make his voice sound as solemn as the Professors, but the butterflies in his stomach kept swooping about. A huge part of him couldn’t believe he was actually going to get to speak to his parents. He was sure he had already looked in this room but the castle was so confusing he couldn’t remember. He took a deep breath, straightened himself up, and walked in. 

The room was quite small for a classroom, and perfectly square. The late summer sun was streaming through the windows but it didn’t reach the back wall where two ornately framed portraits were hung. The two people inside were smiling and waving at him, he ran straight to them and placed a hand up to the face of his mum then his dad. “Hi mum, hi dad.” Now that he was here with them he didn’t really know what to say. He wanted to tell them his whole life, how much he missed them, and that he was doing ok. “I love you.” Was the only thing he said for a long time, he smiled as they started talking to him. Hearing his mother’s voice was like a balm to a wound he didn’t even know he had. 

Camilla sat curled up in one of the big squashy yellow armchairs in the Hufflepuff common room one Sunday morning, it had been two weeks since she had written the owl. And now that she had attended some classes she was beginning to get to grips with her magical self. She was re-reading certain parts of welcome to the world of witchcraft and wizardry and had completely lost herself in its pages. She now knew about the ministry of Magic, who created the rules that everyone in the Wizarding world had to follow, and why her electric gadgets no longer worked. Sort of understood. The book was full of information and had given her a much greater understanding. There was even a chapter on quidditch which she had heard some of the older children discussing trying out for the team, but after reading what there was, she had more questions about the sport than answers. Perhaps you needed to watch it to understand. Putting her book down she looked around the room, there were plenty of people milling about in clusters, some doing homework, some sharing a joke, or swapping chocolate frog cards. It was a bright and clear day so many were outside enjoying the good weather while it lasted. As she watched all these people enjoying their weekend she felt very alone. Abigail and Lexie were very nice to her and would let her join in with them but she found them rather silly sometimes, and it could be difficult to find anything in common with them as their backgrounds were so much different from hers. She missed her best friend. Teddy was pretty much back to the way he had been on the train during school days, but on weekends he just disappeared, leaving her to her own devices. Camilla could sympathise and had tried to be patient with him, but it was getting ridiculous. There was no way she was going to let him ruin every weekend, use up all his free time looking at pictures. Determinedly she got up from her chair and strode out of the common room.

He was exactly where she thought he would be sitting on the floor gazing up at the two portraits. She thought they would be talking but the only sound as she walked in the room was her trainers squeaking against the floor. He didn’t turn as she entered, just continued to stare. She sat down next to him and took his hand, it felt very cold in hers. 

“Hiya.” She started. “I was wondering if you want to go up to the library with me this afternoon. Lexie says they have loads of comics and books about quidditch there, I was hoping you could teach me about it maybe?” He didn’t look at her, just continued to stare, almost like he was under a spell. Setting her jaw she grabbed his chin and turned his face to look at her. “Teddy please, talk to me, this can’t be what the teachers wanted you to do. I need a friend, this world is brand new and more than a little bit scary for me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope with any of it until I met you. You calmed me down without even trying.” She tried to soften her tone to make it sound less angry. “I don’t have any family, I don’t even know if they are dead or alive if they were good people or not. When I step off the train at the end of the school year, all that will be waiting for me is a car to a home for orphaned witches. I don’t even know where it is, I’ve never been there. And now, here, in the once place I thought I could believe I had a friend and not be alone anymore. He decides he would rather spend time with a memory than live his own life.” She had not let him look away from her the whole time, and still, she kept a hold of his chin. He brought his hands up to hold hers, as he pulled his head out of her grip she noticed the white imprint of her fingers on his cheek slowly pink up again. His eyes were still locked on hers and they shone with a fierce resolve. 

“You are not alone, not anymore. You’re gonna come with me at Christmas, and you're going to meet my whole mad family. And you are right to remind me I  _ do _ have a living family, and I’m so lucky to have them. It’s going to be so crowded and so noisy you’re gonna wish I let you stay here for some peace and quiet.” He giggled then looked back at the pictures, his mirth fading, but his gaze did not linger, instead, he sighed, “I’m not even sure what I was looking for, but it’s nice to hear their voices. I thought that perhaps seeing them would stop me from missing them, but I think it makes it worse somehow .” He stood then offered his hand and helped pull her up. “Books aren’t the way to learn about quidditch” He looked out one of the large windows that just so happened to show the quidditch pitch, they could vaguely see figures flying on brooms. “The best way to learn is to watch, or play, let’s go shall we?” They ran from the room together and Teddy never looked back, not once.

Just inviting someone to your house for Christmas did not make it actually happen as Teddy found out as he finally wrote home to his grandparents and Harry. They were all happy for her to come along as long as she had permission from the school. Teddy didn’t really know how to do that but he supposed it would be best to check with his head of house first. Professor Mcallister had quickly become Teddy’s favourite teacher, his charms classes were nearly always practical, and especially welcome after the long lesson with professor Binns before it. He seemed to have a great deal of time for his Hufflepuff students, while remaining very fair to the other houses too. 

Teddy waited until the end of one charms class to speak to his teacher, holding the note Harry had sent saying he was happy for Camilla to stay with them for Christmas as he approached his desk. He glanced back at Camilla, who was standing by the door waiting for him biting her lip nervously. 

“Professor?” He began. Professor Mcallister looked up expectantly and smiled warmly, his eyes nearly disappearing as his face crinkled. 

“Ah, Mr. Lupin. What can I do for you this day?” Teddy handed him the note. 

“My godfather says it’s not a problem as long as I have permission for Camilla to go.” He waited as patiently as he could as his professor read the note then placed it in his pocket carefully. 

“I take it Camilla is more than happy to go.” They both looked over to his friend who nodded enthusiastically. “Well, then you have permission.” Teddy couldn’t suppress a jump and a whoop and Professor Mcallister laughed appreciatively, then shooed them out. “Best be off before you are late for another lesson.”

It wasn’t long before the day arrived to leave Hogwarts for the holidays. The train ride south was loads of fun as all the Hufflepuff first years squeezed into a carriage together and played exploding snap, and laughed hysterically as Teddy tried to change his face to look like each of them, Matthew Hawkins who was pretty good at imitating voices strode around the carriage pretending to be the different professors. But all too soon the rolling countryside turned into the grey buildings of London, and it was time to say goodbye to their fellow Hufflepuffs. 

Grandpa Ted met them off the train and greeted them warmly, all seven of them. He laughed as they approached him in a large cluster all talking at once. His eyes sparkled brightly as he tried to follow the chain of the conversation until they started to spot their own relatives and move away in ones and twos until only two were left. Teddy gave him a massive hug trying to tell his grandfather how much he missed them and appreciated all that they did without actually saying anything. “Well, that’s a very fine way to say hello to me.” He said warmly, returning the hug almost as fiercely. He offered a hand to Camilla who took it gratefully, not sure if she was quite ready for a hug from Teddy’s family, even as friendly as they were. “Come on you two.” He said brightly, “Harry’s waiting in the car.” It was only a short walk but his grandpa wasted no time asking for the lowdown of all that was happening at Hogwarts, telling him he should write to his grandmother more, and making sure he was eating his vegetables. Camilla just watched the two of them with an amused smile on her face saying nothing. 

Teddy thought it was a little funny that Camilla looked a little disappointed at the very ordinary-looking car waiting for them outside, he almost made him want to ask what she had been expecting. She seemed a bit more pleased once sat in it though realising how much bigger it was from the outside. Harry turned slightly from his spot at the driver's seat as they got in and smiled at Camilla warmly. Teddy reached forward and wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders as soon as he was in the car, Harry squeezed his arm in as much of a return of the hug he could manage while sitting down in a car. Once all three passengers were sitting comfortably, they were off.

Camilla sat beside her best friend in the car not quite believing that she was traveling to a real wizard house, and not just any wizard house. She tried very hard to be cool about this. She had read her modern history book, and could not help being a little star struck.

Harry wasn’t just famous like someone from the tv like she had originally thought, but saviour of the world, legendary famous. But as the journey continued she started to see him more like one of her professors, friendly and knowledgeable, and not at all as intimidating in real life as he was in her school book. Harry just seemed to be as normal as any other grown wizard she had met. For the majority of the journey she just sat quietly watching out the window as the streets of London turned to a motorway, turned to the winding roads of the countryside. She let the conversation Teddy was having with his family wash over her, not feeling any need to join in and not feeling that she could not if she wanted to add a comment.

It was dark by the time they drove up a little country lane on the outskirts of a sleepy village, and turned onto a private drive surrounded by trees. She doubted she would even notice this road even in daylight. The house itself was a large building that looked like it used to be a barn, it was difficult to see in the dim light but she was pretty sure it was clad in wood. A couple of rose bushes sat at each side of the front double doors, and were decorated with twinkling lights for the season. A giant wreath of frosted green leaves hung on the door, that opened as they got out the car, and Teddy was suddenly set upon by two dark-haired screaming banshees. 

“Teddy! Teddy! Teddy!” They both screamed as they drove into him knocking him to the ground. He was laughing as he pretended to fight them off. They were followed outside by a petite slender lady with beautiful long red hair who must be Mrs Potter, and an older self-possessed woman who must be Mrs. Tonks, Teddy’s grandmother. Mrs. Potter wasted no time and came straight over to her and enveloped her in a massive hug. Camilla felt so welcomed in those arms she was very nearly in tears and she had to take a big steadying breath. 

“Teddy has told us so much about you it’s nice to finally meet you,” Then she whispered quietly so only she could hear. “Thanks for the letter.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Mrs Potter. Thank you for letting me stay.” She wanted to say so much more but didn’t know where to begin. “Teddy is very lucky to have you in his life.” She felt a little embarrassed as she said this not wanting to sound jealous of her friend, but Mrs Potter just took it in her stride. She seemed like the kind of woman that wouldn’t let anything bother her. 

“Camilla this is who you should ask about quidditch,” Teddy said, finally able to get his breath and escape the boys who were now wrestling on the ground with their father, who in an attempt to rescue Teddy had found himself the target instead. “She played professionally. Ginny, Camilla is very interested in learning about it, she’s quite good on a broom for a novice.” He said proudly Camilla, before rushing to give his grandmother a giant hug, she felt herself blushing under all the scrutiny. 

“Well I am always happy to encourage new fans to the sport. And while you are here please call me Ginny, but I think first thing first is dinner. Harry?” She looked around as if she was only just noticing her husband rolling around on the driveway roaring and laughing with their sons. “oh Harry!,” she said half laughing, “boys, boys, in the house! Wash up before dinner. Not too much noise now Lily is sleeping.” They all walked towards the house. Teddy walked in arm in arm with his grandparents, while Harry hoisted his younger son Albus over his shoulder to screams of laughter while James the eldest ran inside claiming to be the winner. Ginny turned and put an arm around Camilla’s shoulder, “it’s almost past the boys' bedtime too but they wouldn’t sleep until they saw Teddy. I would like to say they are not normally like this and it’s just because they are tired but that would be a lie.” She chuckled, “So how are you liking Hogwarts?” Camilla could not believe how welcome they were all making her feel, and Ginny was not a small part of this. 

After dinner Camilla sat in the Potters cosy living room feeling very full and happy. Mr & Mrs. Potter were upstairs putting the boys to bed and grandma and grandpa Tonks were snoozing in armchairs by the fire, holding hands and looking like the sweetest older couple she had ever seen. Teddy was lying on his stomach in front of the sofa a Weasley catalog in front of him. She was reading or trying to read a book about the Holyhead Harpies, but she kept getting distracted by the players in the photographs zooming about. Mr Potter came back into the room then and sat down on the sofa beside her. Seeing him up close she thought that he looked rather tired. “Ted your stuff is all in your room and the bathrooms free if you want to get yourself sorted.” Teddy rolled onto his back and looked up at him as if to argue but then saw his godfather’s tired eyes and thought better of it, instead giving him a hug as he said goodnight, he paused as if to wake his grandparents but then just grinned at them and carried on upstairs. When he was gone Mr Potter turned his gaze on her, saw what she was reading and smiled. “Quidditch was the first thing at Hogwarts I was truly good at. Ginny was even better of course. My very good school friend Hermione was always reading books too, you’ll meet her at Christmas.” He chatted to her amiably, glancing at her he must have read something in her expression. “But I think there is something you want to ask me, Miss Winters?” He said in a serious but not unfriendly voice. She looked at his face, kind and patient, not guarded or offended. She put her book down and sat up. 

“I wondered.” She started slowly trying to phrase it correctly. “Since you work in the ministry, you might know, or be able to find out, if it’s not too much trouble?” She paused then and she knew he understood, she looked into his eyes that held her with a bright intensity. “Can you find out who my parents were? Surely there is some record somewhere?” She looked at her feet then, no longer able to keep looking at the sympathy in his face. 

“You have to understand Camilla. That time in our history, the year that you and Teddy were born, was a very dark, mad, and dangerous time. The ministry was under the control of Voldemort, so many wizards were in hiding or killed. Muggleborns went into hiding for fear of their lives, including Mr. Tonks there. Snatchers were roaming the country looking for them to round up. Nobody knew how long it would be before it ended, or even if it would end.” He ran a hand through his hair obviously troubled by the memories and for a moment she clearly saw the scar on his forehead. “It’s amazing there are any children starting Hogwarts this year.” He almost smiled. “Many people ran away and got married. Trying to find records of anything from that time will be difficult. Do you know your birthday? Was your name given to you by your parents?”

“My name was given to me by a nurse at the hospital I was left at. My Birthday is pretty accurate as they knew I was only a few hours old. Winters is because it was December” He looked at her surprised 

“It’s your birthday?” She shook her head smiling, and gave a little shrug dismissively. 

“the 11th it’s already passed” this seemed to be quite a big deal for him all of a sudden he got up muttering under his breath she made out the words “not right” and “something” and then walked out the room still muttering. He came back holding a brown leather object not much bigger than his hand. 

“Can’t have you not getting anything for your birthday.” He said handing it to her. “I still remember the birthday I found out I was a wizard. Birthdays should be important, should be celebrated.” She looked down at it not sure exactly what it was, it had a strip of stiffened leather that looked like it had a long thin pocket, with straps and buckles made of very soft material. Seeing her slightly confused look he explained. “It’s a wand holster, for your wrist.” He tried to put it on her arm, the straps were far too big for her skinny arms, and the place where you put your wand was almost to her elbow. He touched it with his own wand saying, “ _reducio_ ” and it shrunk to fit perfectly.

“Magic is so cool.” She smiled and he chuckled, her wand she realised was still in her bag upstairs. 

“Once you get to know one end of a wand from another, you will learn to do lots of different spells, but anyway we were talking about your birth. Do you know the hospital?” She nodded. 

“King's College London, it’s on my birth certificate. I am a ward of Hogwarts now, the school has all my papers. It was explained to me by Professor Tawney when she visited me before I started school, as a magical child I can’t be kept under the protection of muggles who don’t know who I am, so Hogwarts will look after me until I turn 17. There is a home, kind of like my foster family, I’ve not been there yet but I spoke to the witch who runs it on the phone.” Hopefully, he didn’t notice how forced her cheeriness was. She wondered what time it was, there didn’t seem to be any clocks in this house. She was sure he hadn’t missed the tone in her voice, but she was grateful that he chose to ignore it. She stifled a yawn while taking a great interest in her wand holster.

“Time for bed I think.” He told her shrewdly, “Teddy should be finished in the bathroom by now we can hope.” He stood up and turned to her saying, “I cannot promise that I will be able to find out anything about your parents, but I can promise that if there is  _ anything _ to find I will find it.” He offered his hand to help her up, as she took it she felt a tingle go up her arm, she pretended not to notice hoping she hadn’t done something with her magic, he didn’t react either so it must have been just her. “Thank you for asking me to help you. I will let you know what I find out.” He said it in a very honest way and she believed him completely. She smiled then and made her way up to the room she had been shown before dinner, making sure to walk quietly past the doors of the sleeping youngsters' bedrooms, feeling hopeful that perhaps she would finally get some answers. 

**Author's Note:**

> I am planning to update this regularly, find me on tumblr and scream at me to write more @frustratedpoetwrites


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